Through New Eyes
by Figment of Imagery
Summary: Salo, a girl traveling with Prince Zuko,and supposedly a second Avatar, tells her side of the story through all the episodes from Season 1 to Season 3, and a little after.
1. The Beginning

**Authors note:**

**This is about a girl who travels with Prince Zuko, sometimes...Its mainly about what happens to her. She's really close to Zuko, like a best friend. **

**mahem: Alright!The story is about to begin! Disclaimer, take it away!**

**Disclamer: mahem does not own Avatar The Last Airbender or any of its characters.**

Prologue:

I remember that day…Ty Lee, Mai, Zuko, Azula and I were messing around in the palace yard. Azula had placed an apple on Mai's head and set it on fire to tease Zuko, and of course, he went and tackled her into the fountain pool to try and put it out. After that incident he stalked off yelling 'girls are crazy!' I laughed so hard. We had a lot of fun days after that, and then one fateful day happened. Things were never the same. Zuko pretty much blocked me out. I couldn't blame him. His scar was a constant reminder of that day. The start of his search for the Avatar started in a week. I left him to mope and shut the door to my room. That was when I learned something. I was the Avatar. It wasn't possible. I didn't believe it. The REAL Avatar had to be out there somewhere, it has been 100 years. It didn't make sense. It was all messed up. The Avatar was supposed to be an airbender. I'm not.

I remember that moment; Zuko's back to me as he walked up that gangplank. I took a breathe, and placed my hand on his shoulder. "I'm coming with you." His expression was one I would never forget.

o.o.o.o.o.o.

I sighed and ate another fire flake. Memories have been haunting me lately. I ran my fingers through my dark brown hair and moved a piece forward on the Pi-Sho game board. The clicks of the pieces mixed with the blows of the great old engine of the Fire Nation war ship. I sighed again, this time because I just lost. My opponent chuckled.

"You're getting better! Perhaps you will win if we play again!"

I chuckled.

"Sorry General Iroh, I'm not in the mood for another game." I said. The retired general squinted at me. "You seem to be off in your own world. Want to tell me what's going on?"

I smiled sadly at him.

"I'm just remembering the old times, General," I said sadly.

"How many times must I remind you to call me Uncle?"

"Sorry, _Uncle_." I sighed and rested my head on the board. Gene-Uncle Iroh patted my head. "Sometimes I like to look back to the old times too, but over a cup of Jasmine tea of course." He chuckled and hurried off to the kitchen. I watched as Zuko came onto the deck and looked around him at the horizon, in his normal pose, of course. His hands clenched at his side, his stocky figure buffed out, his eyes narrowed. It hasn't changed in a while. I stood up and walked over to his side. He didn't say anything. I put my hands in my pockets, rocked back and forth on my heels and looked at the twilight horizon. I looked at Zuko through the corner of my eye, a mischievous thought occurring to me. As soon as I saw his face though, it quickly disappeared. It was obvious he wasn't in a good mood. I sighed. Sometimes he gives me strange feelings, strange, _inappropriate _feelings. Like now, for instance. Those feelings lead to thoughts, and those thoughts usually lead to actions, but only if the other person was thinking those thoughts as well.

Shut up Salo.

No, I like these thoughts.

Your an orphan, he's a prince. It's not going to work out.

I LIKE THESE THOUGHTS!

Salo...

Grrrrr.

I sighed and bit my lip, titling my head back to look up at the sky. After a few minutes I turned to Zuko.

"You're obviously not very happy today," I said, giving him an innocent little look when he glared at me out of the corner of his eyes.

"I'm fine." He walked to the prow of the boat, his pose not changing. I skipped after him. Annoying Zuko when he's in his 'silent, evil, and angry' mood is one of the many joys of the world. I rocked back and forth on my feet again. Nothing. I started dancing in circles around him. Just an evil glare. Finally, I started poking him in the back.

He whirled around to glare at me. I grinned at him and turned tail and ran when he started running toward me. I laughed and turned around to look at him. He was still glaring at me. Finally he lunged forward and grabbed my ankle and sent me sprawling. I laughed for a moment and swore the corners of his mouth were turned up the slightest bit, and then Zuko resumed his 'don't touch meh' attitude. He glared at me and muttered some words that sounded like: Bitch, stupid, busy, shitty.

"Why do you always do that? Don't you know I'm busy?" he yelled. I shrugged from my spot on the floor. "You sure didn't seem like it." He clenched his fists tighter until I swore to myself they were about to bleed. He looked as if he was about to hit me, but closed his eyes, took a breathe, let out a small stream of fire, then turned away. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight Salo."

I saluted.

"G'night Prince Zuko." He disappeared into the 'tower' and I stood up and brushed myself off, heading towards the hallway. I passed General Iroh, said goodnight, and closed the door to my bunker.

_-_-_- ^ a few hours later ^-_-_-_

I was awoken by a guard, saying Prince Zuko wanted me on deck immediately. Too tired to argue, I put on my robe, and walked out on deck rubbing my eyes. General Iroh was already out here, and he turned to me, his face expressionless. Zuko was looking at something through his telescope. He didn't turn to me, or anyone for that matter. All he said was: "I found the Avatar."

I froze. Had he found out I was the Avatar? Would he take me to his father or…ugh how stupid of me. Of course he would. But he's raised a false alarm before. Wait, I might not even be the Avatar...chill out. Why do I always get so excited? He turned around and shouted orders to his guards. Apparently he thinks there's another Avatar…phew. I'm safe, for now. While he was standing a few feet away, I snuck a look through his telescope. It was pointed at a Southern Water Tribe village. I took in a breathe. It was the smallest I've ever seen. He wasn't thinking of invading it, was he? I looked at him. Of course he was. He wouldn't be yelling orders if he wasn't. I sighed. I took one last look at the village, and turned around right into Zuko. He looked hard at me.

"I suggest you go get your armor on Salo, were paying the water tribe a visit," he said, his breathe making small clouds in the cold early morning air. I nodded, shivering at how close we were, almost touching. I mentally slapped myself over and over again for thinking like that, wrapped my arms around my chest, and went back into my bunker. I pulled the armor out of the closet, and slid into it. I hurried to tie the straps, but the ones under my armpit are kind of hard to do with one hand. Someone knocked softly on my door and Uncle Iroh walked in.

"Let me help you with that," he said, and I smiled my thanks. When he was finished I grabbed a helmet and we walked out to the deck. I slid the Fire Nation Helmet on, after tying my hair on the top of my head. It might be stupid, but I'm not sure I want the Water Tribe to know I'm a girl. It could make Zuko look desperate and weak for taking a girl into his mission, though I am perfectly capable of taking five men at a time. The ship came closer and closer to the small settlement. After a few minutes I could see the frightened faces of the women and children, and one strange guy with a gray painted face standing on the wall. I raised an eyebrow under my helmet. One guy? Strange…all of the other men are probably away in the war, he had to stay behind. The black ash sprinkled down everywhere. The drawbridge thing was lowered from the ship, and Zuko walked out first, with me and a few other men in a triangle formation. I swallowed a lump in my throat. Usually I enjoy striking fear into people, but this just felt wrong. There were no men to protect the elderly and children if Zuko decided to do something crazy. Oh, I hope Zuko doesn't do anything crazy.

Everything was silent except for the cry of a child. I knew Zuko was glaring at everything; I've been through this enough times. This whole thing was a waste of time. He doesn't know the Avatar's been with him through all of his sixteen years. He's eventually going to find that out.

"I am Prince Zuko, son of Firelord Ozai and heir to the throne. I know you are keeping the avatar here," His voice pierced through my thoughts. I bit my lip as he grabbed the arm of an old lady. "Probably looks around this age." He let her go. I sighed my relief. When the gangplank was lowered, it had smashed into their wall, knocking the grey faced guy off. Now, that guy was running towards Zuko, holding some shiny thing behind his head. Zuko easily avoided his attack, and with a swift kick sent him flying across the small clearing and into a pile of snow. Grey Guy threw his shiny thing at Zuko, who dodged it. Zuko glared at Grey Guy for a few moments, and then he was suddenly knocked over onto his face. The shiny thing. A boomerang. He got up and shot a long stream of fire at Grey Guy, narrowly missing his painted nose. Then everyone got a surprise. A short kid, about 12, jumped out from behind Grey Guy with some sort of staff. I squinted to get a better look at him. He had weird blue arrows tattooed on his head.

"Stop!" he yelled. "I am the Avatar!" That last thing totally threw me off balance, but then I figured he was lying. Just trying to protect his friends. But those tattoos…

Suddenly it occurred to me, he's an Airbender. But the fire nation wiped out both the air temples over a hundred years ago. He must be lying, unless he somehow found a way to evade the fire nation until now. Or, I could have been lied to. I might not be the Avatar after all! I haven't bended anything besides fire yet, but that was partly because it's so hard to find proper teachers with this economy. I could see Zuko stiffen.

"I am the Avatar!" the kid repeated. "If I go with you, you must promise to leave this place and not hurt anyone!" Zuko nodded and motioned to us. 3 other men and I walked forward to the kid. I grabbed his staff, took both his arms and tied them. Another man prodded his back. "Get moving," he ordered. As the kid started walking forward, a girl cried out behind me. "No! Aang! Don't do this!" the boy named 'Aang' turned to her. "I'll be alright Katara. Don't worry. Take care of Appa for me." He shut up, and continued walking up the gangplank to the ship. The opening closed, and as I brought the kid to his new cell, we set off from shore. I got a better look at his tattoos. They looked genuine, and he was absolutely bald like a monk from an air temple…he might be the Avatar…but I'M the Avatar. I shook my head behind his back. It was all too confusing. He turned around to look at me. I stared right back.

"Hey, have you guys ever fought an airbender?" he asked. We didn't respond, just kept walking. A few moments later…

"I bet I could take you both, with my hands tied behind my back!" Silence. He took in a breathe, and all I remember next was shooting backwards with amazing speed, with this kid on top of me. I hit the wall with a thud, and he took off up the stairs. Since the other guard was knocked out, I took off after him. As I ran I yelled: "The Avatar has escaped! The Avatar has escaped!" by the time he got on deck everyone was out, even Zuko and his Uncle. I lunged for the boy, tackling him and knocking him over. He pushed me off, and I tried to do it again, but he leaped over me and somehow got his bonds cut. I whirled around to face him, and I tripped him, I tried to pin him, but man this kid was strong. He kicked his foot out and landed a blow on my cheek, which I found out is now bleeding. I gritted my teeth and reached out to grab his foot. I was greeted with blasts of air and I was flung backwards. This kid WAS an airbender. Well fine. I can give as well as I can get. I grit my teeth again and shot fire at him. He dodged it, and sent more blasts of air in my direction. I glared at him. I shot as much fire as I could, but then he started to glow…well, at least his tattoos did. He whirled the water up around him into a tornado type thing, and shot water at us. I dodged it, but then I heard a roar, and looked up. Some white flying thing with two people on it was directly above the ship. It landed on the deck, amid the chaos and water puddles. It was Grey Guy and the girl named Katara. I glared at her, my anger writhing up. I shouted evil words to the sky. I had to work on my anger issues. I shot fire at her, and she shot water at me and two other men. I squeezed my eyes shut, only to open them and find myself frozen in a block of ice. The girl squealed and grinned, and a long colorful stream of curse words came from under my breathe. "Stupid bitch and her water." Grrr. The Avatar and Grey Guy and Katara jumped onto the shaggy thing, and flew off. Zuko was standing right where the thing previously was, glaring after them.

"Set a course after the Avatar, _IMMEDIATLEY_!" he roared. Silence. I looked around me. All the men were either over board, passed out, or frozen with me. I may be frozen in a block of ice, but my head wasn't.

"In case you haven't noticed, Prince Zuko, we are under no circumstances to be traveling very far until we get repairs," Uncle Iroh said. Dang. He beat me to the punch, though my punch would have stung a lot worse…

I heard Zuko sigh.

"Fine. Set course after the Avatar, _after_ repairs." He trudged off to his cabin, passed me, studied my condition, raised an eyebrow, and continued on his way. I made a face after he was gone. A now conscious guard was working on thawing me out. Very. Slowly. I looked up and glared at the small black speck that was the Avatar in the distance.


	2. Commander Zhou

**As you might have/might have not noticed by now, these chapters are based on Episodes...with Salo and her shenanigans thrown in there at certain places.**

We pulled into a fire nation port the next day. I was completely thawed out by then, but I still shivered every once in a while, my cheek had a bad scrape on it, and my lips were a deep purple. Prince Zuko, General Iroh and I disembarked to take a walk while repairs were being made. We just got off the ship and turned right when I heard an awfully familiar voice. I slowly turned around along with Zuko and Uncle.

"Well, well, well. The banished prince, the retired general, and the orphan girl. My lucky day. Let's catch up over a pot of tea?" I grit my teeth. "Commander Zhou." I muttered under my breathe. Zuko stepped forward.

"We don't have time for tea," he spat. General Iroh took a hold of his shoulder.

"Zuko! Where are your manners!" he turned to Commander Zhou. "Of course! We would love to talk over a cup of tea." He followed him to his tent. I laid a hand on Zuko's arm, who looked like he was about to burst with rage. He groaned loudly, but we followed the others. We sat at a short table in Zhou's tent, and Uncle poured us tea. Zhou paced before speaking.

"Well, Prince Zuko, I noticed your ship. How did you manage to get that much damage done to it?" he looked at us expectantly, and I could have sworn I saw an evil glint in his eye. Zuko for once looked speechless, and not in the good way.

"We, um…we…"

I set down my tea and looked Zhou in the eye.

"We hit an iceberg, Commander."

I snuck a glance at Zuko, who shot me a 'thank you' look. I smiled briefly and took a sip of my tea. Zhou did the same. With his tea, I mean.

"An iceberg, interesting. I had gotten word that you were in possession on the Avatar, is this true?" he asked. I exchanged a look with Zuko and Uncle. Zuko stood up.

"Well you heard wrong. We never had the Avatar." I had to keep myself from beaming. I was so proud of him. Strange as it were, since I am a year younger than him, but the way he looked Zhou in the eye and didn't waver when telling a lie, I just felt like leaping up and squeezing him. But then Zhou wouldn't believe Zuko for a minute and Zuko would never speak to me again, and I'd be thoroughly embarrassed so I clicked back to the scene before me and sipped my tea with anxiety. Zhou looked at Zuko with the same expression.

"That's not what my guards told me." He sipped his tea and turned to two men standing by. "Search the vessel." I set my cup down with a bang. Accidentally, of course. Everyone looked at me, and I gave them my innocent look. Zuko sat down, his expression still hard, but there was a hint of defeat. There was a period of awkward silence, which seemed to stretch on forever; but all too soon the men came back and reported that there was evidence the Avatar had been in our possession. Zhou turned to us and smirked.

"Well, well, well Prince Zuko. Looks like you had a run in with a very special iceberg." He sipped his tea. Zuko gripped the armrests of his chair so hard I thought they were going to shatter. I cringed and looked down at my tea. Or my cup, rather. I held it upside down, and shook it, empty. I peeked in the pot, empty. Zuko stood up and faced Zhou, who smirked.

"Oh Zuko. You poor little boy. You really think your father would have had you back even if you captured the Avatar? If you were really that important to him, he would have had turned Princess Azula out at you. If you ever got back to him with the Avatar, he'd only lock you up where he can hide you, and not be humiliated by you any further." Zuko looked as if he would hit him. I couldn't take it any more. I know he wasn't insulting me directly, but I cared about Zuko. He was important to me and it hurt to see someone I love insulted so cruelly like that. I locked gazes with Zhou, and before he had a chance to speak again, I stood up and dropped the teapot onto the floor. The shatter seemed to echo off the walls and reached out far away. I narrowed my eyes at Zhou, who raised an eyebrow at me in a quizzical manner. Everyone, even the guards, looked at me.

"Oops," I said through gritted teeth. "It slipped."

Zhou chuckled.

"You have a beautiful girl there, Prince Zuko." He walked toward me and tilted my chin up. I pulled away and bit at his finger, sadly, he got away too soon. Zhou laughed again. "And fiery." He turned grim again and set his tea down. He turned to Zuko.

"You are no longer allowed to pursue the Avatar; I am taking up that task." Zuko stepped forward and glared at him.

"You can't do that! I was sent to capture the Avatar!" he yelled. Uncle Iroh and I shared a look. "I challenge you, Agni-Kai at sunset!" I was caught completely off guard at this, and pretty much just fell over. There, I sat on the floor, watching everything. Soon there wasn't much to watch, Zhou accepted Zuko's challenge, of course, and since it was almost sunset, it was time Zuko and I had a little talk. Uncle left the tent to go get more tea, after reminding Zuko what happened last time he challenged a master. I looked over at Zuko, sitting in his chair, frowning. I sighed and walked over to him. He didn't look up.

"Um…Zuko…"

"What?" he snapped. "You here to try and talk me out of it? Forget it." He slunk into his seat. I knelt down and rested my chin and arms on the armrest of his chair.

"No, I know from experience that doesn't work." I reached out to try and touch him, he swatted my hand away. He still didn't look at me. I sighed and stood up.

"Zuko…" I paused, searching his face. He cocked an eyebrow expectantly. I bit my lip, feeling about to cry. He never knew I loved him. The sad part is I still do. I flung my arms around his neck and squeezed my eyes shut, willing the tears not to come. I could feel his surprise and I knew he would be blushing. I pulled back and looked him in the eyes.

"Please be careful," I said. I hugged him again, and this time, he hugged me back. We separated, and he smiled at me. Then he left. I collapsed in his chair, and I just let the tears come. I curled up into a ball and sat there, and soon I couldn't cry anymore.

Uncle Iroh came in and told me it was time for the match. I walked out of the tent with him, my hands in my pockets, biting my lip. We entered the edge of the arena, and by now I was so full of anxiety I had bitten all the nails on my left hand except the thumb, which I was working on now. Uncle Iroh stood in front of a kneeling Zuko, and I could feel my stomach flutter. I've known Zuko all my life, and I still get butterflies when I see him shirtless. Those darn feelings were butting into the middle of things again...

Iroh placed his hands on Zuko's shoulders and had a short pep talk. I could see Zhou at the other end of the arena, talking with his old master.

The gong sounded, and the opponents stood up. Before Zuko turned around he looked at me, and the corner of his mouth twitched up a bit. I felt my face turning red, but then it turned white again. Zuko and Zhou met each other in the middle and circled each other in ready position. Zuko shot a fire-punch at Zhou, who blocked. Zuko did it again, Zhou blocked. I was biting my thumb so hard it started bleeding. I tried to calm myself down, Uncle Iroh was completely calm, or so he looked like it. I took a few breathes and put my hands down by my side and watched. Zuko lunged an attack on Zhou, and he was flung backwards. I silently cheered. Zhou stood up and shot blasts of fire at Zuko, one after another. I swore I was going to faint. I settled onto the dirt and leaned against the wall. This banter went on for about ten minutes, they were both tiring. Even I could see that. Zuko finally delivered the final blow to Zhou and he shot backwards into the dirt. Zuko stood above him, glaring and smirking at the same time. Shou grumbled and swore. Zuko turned to come back to us, but I saw something. Zhou stood up and was getting ready to blast at Zuko. Before I could say anything, Uncle Iroh was there and blocked it just as he shot, sending Shou into the dirt again. Zuko turned and realized what Zhou had been planning to do. I ran over there as fast as I could. Uncle Iroh stood above Zhou in a defiant manner.

"Is this how the famous Commander Zhou reacts to defeat?" Zhou just glared and grumbled.

"Even with banishment, my nephew has more honor than you." I saw Zuko stiffen. I smiled to myself. Uncle Iroh bowed to Zhou out of respect. "Thank you for the tea, it was delicious."

As we were walking towards the ship, Zuko turned to his uncle.

"Did you really mean that Uncle?" The retired general and I shared a smile.

"Of course." He said. "Jasmine tea is my favorite." I chuckled and hugged Zuko quickly from the side. Then I took off and ran up the gangplank to out ship.


	3. The Deal with Pirates

The next morning was a slow one. The ship had to move slower than usual to get used to the repairs, and Zuko was back in his bad mood. I just smiled when I looked at him. It just seemed funny to me. I couldn't blame Zuko for being in a bad mood, we were going so slow I could have jumped out and swam along with the ship. I don't want to do that, because were still in the South Pole and I'm not sure I want to turn blue again. I was in a particular hyper mood today, so I had already gotten yelled at by Zuko twice. I couldn't help it.

I grinned mischievously, and looked around the deck. It was empty. I did a flip into the middle of it, stood the ready pose and sent a thin stream of fire from my fingertips. I grinned. I turned around in circles and moved my hand in various ways. Then I shot it out of my other hand, and I turned in circles and did flips, all with the thin fire from my finger tips. I did this for about ten minutes, and then stopped to admire my work. Tiny golden spots glittered the air around the ship, and a beautiful golden dragon posed in the center. Zuko stepped out from the 'tower' and right in the middle of it. I giggled at his expression. He looked around at it, and even tried to poke the dragon. After a while he turned to me.

"You did this?" I couldn't hint anything in his voice, so I stuck my hands in my pockets and nervously said yes. He turned back to it and ran his hand along the top of his bald head. I smiled. Zuko sighed and stood by the railing of the ship. I watched as the wind blew my art away. Suddenly Zuko looked up and pointed at something and started shouting. The Avatar! I grit my teeth and frowned. Zuko yelled up to the captain.

"Forget about the repairs, set full steam towards the Avatar!"

I looked at the flying thing that was supposedly the Avatar. It was his shaggy thing, and I could see three heads on it. Riding it. I turned to Zuko. "We need to throw something at it!" Zuko turned to one of the guards, who readied the fireball thrower. I set fire to the first ball of cloth, and it shot upward in the direction of the Avatar. It evaded it. I did about three or four more, but then a guard pointed at something in the distance. Zuko and I ran to the helm, looking over the edge. A blockade. I looked at Zuko worriedly. "That's Commander Shou. He's not going to let us pass." Zuko kept his gaze on the ships. "We'll make it." I held my breathe. We were close enough now. A few yards away and we'll crash into one of the blockade ships. I noticed something. They were shooting at the Avatar also. Uncle ran to Zuko.

"We are on the border of the fire nation! You are banished from there! They'd string you up and feed you to the wild animals if they catch you!"

Zuko shook his head.

"Father will understand." Just when I was sure we were going to have a head on collision with a ship, they stopped and let us pass. We were so close; Zuko, the guards, and everyone and I looked up to glare in the face of Shou. I swear if I had been a cat I would have hissed at him. Instead I mumbled 'fucking bastard of a man' under my breathe.

Soon we were past. The ship left a long stream of soot behind it. I turned to Zuko.

"He's hoping to follow us to the Avatar, Prince Zuko. That's why he let us pass."

Zuko nodded.

"We'll give him something to follow." He strode off. We sailed all day, and everyone was tired. I was lying on the deck, leaning against the prow, watching Zuko train with some guards. All of a sudden the boat swerved right, and everyone rolled to one side. I almost got thrown over board. Zuko grumbled and we strode up to the captains tower.

"What's the meaning of this mutiny?" Zuko yelled at the captain. "No one told you to change course!"

Uncle Iroh spoke up from his game in the corner.

"Actually, I did. But trust me. It is something of utmost importance." Zuko raised his eyebrows.

"Did you find the Avatar?"

"No. I just realized, I can't find my lotus flower Pi-Sho piece." Uncle moved a few spaces on the board. "Just give me ten minutes in town to find another one, then I promise we can be on our way." Zuko stomped his foot and shot fire out of his mouth at the ceiling but said nothing. Uncle Iroh smiled. "I'm so glad I have such an understanding nephew."

It took about a half an hour to get there. When we disembarked on shore, Uncle pointed to a pirate's curio shop ship and ran toward it. We entered the ship, it was dark inside. Uncle was looking at a metal monkey with red gems studded into it. I fingered the dusty bookshelf against the wall. Zuko was standing by a counter, pouting. I chuckled and went to stand next to him. Dang you feelings! We didn't say anything. I heard two pirates talking not very far away.

"We lost the little water tribe girl and the bald monk the was traveling with," the first pirate said.

"We'll catch them eventually." the second pirate. I noticed Zuko stiffen and he went over to them

"This monk, did he have arrows on his head?" The pirate captain nodded. Zuko and the pirate made a deal, of…something, and we went outside to our ship, and we set off down a wide river. I turned around; the pirates were right behind us. The pirate captain was with us.

"Shouldn't we stop and search the forest?" he asked, eyeing Zuko.

"They stole water bending scrolls, right?" Zuko responded. The pirate nodded. "Then they'll be somewhere by the water."

It was getting dark, and I was getting tired and hungry. We sailed with no lead for a while, and then we heard something. It sounded like a girl groaning, and a lot of splashing. Zuko signaled to keep quiet, and told me to make sure no one knows I'm a girl. I nodded and secretly pulled my helmet on; thanking the spirits silently that no pirate saw me at all. We pulled the boats to shore, and the fun began. The girl was the little girl at the South Pole, 'Katara'. She spotted the boats, but when she turned to run she ran into a pirate. She splashed him in the face with her water, then turned and ran into Zuko who took hold of her wrists, glared at her and said, "I'll save you from the pirates." I snickered under my helmet as a he tied her to a tree. She glared around her, especially Zuko; apparently they have some of a history. Zuko picked up the scrolls and gave them to me, then turned to Katara.

"Where is the Avatar?"

"I'm not telling you anything," Katara snapped. Zuko was silent for a moment, and then approached her slowly.

"Let me put it this way. I need the Avatar to regain something I lost, my honor. In exchange I can return something you've lost." He pulled a blue choker out of his pocket and held it to her neck.

"My mothers necklace!" she exclaimed. Zuko pulled back from her. "I didn't steal it, if that's what your thinking." There were sounds of scuffling in the woods, and some pirates returned with Grey Guy and the dude with the arrows, Aang. They were tied up.

"I bet this scroll is worth a lot," Zuko said, taking it from me and holding a flame under it. The pirates stepped forward, shouting their resistance. Grey Guy spoke up.

"Hey, you guys are trading the _Avatar_ for a piece of parchment?"

Everything was silent for a while, then the pirate captain turned to Aang. "Your friend is the Avatar?" Zuko stomped his foot.

"Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other!"

Grey Guy continued. "Yep. He's the avatar alright." Zuko stepped forward. "Shut up you water tribe peasant." Aang turned to Grey Guy. "Yeah, Sokka, I think you should shut up now."

Sokka continued. "Oh come on. I bet the Firelord will pay a hefty price for the Avatar, you'd be set for life."

The pirate captain turned to Zuko. "Keep the parchment."

He herded his group towards their ship. Zuko glared. "You'll regret breaking your deal with me."

We simultaneously shot fire at the pirates, who jumped. Katara was set free by some weird flying lemur thing and she ran to Aang and Sokka, where the pirates left them to turn on us. They were water bending the pirate boat off the beach. As I went forward to stop them, a pirate threw smoke bombs at us, and we were enveloped in smoke. The fire nation troops and the pirates were fighting, I saw Zuko stick the scrolls in his belt, then duck under a pirate sword. I was about to go stop the Avatar, when a pirate leaped on me and attacked me. My helmet came off and the pirate captain pinned me down with my hands behind my back. I struggled, but he was too strong. I saw out of the corner of my eye the Avatar, Katara and Grey Guy had gotten the pirate boat into the water. Zuko came and tried to get the pirate captain off me, and they started fighting.

Uncle Iroh got in the middle of it and said, "Are you too busy to notice your own ship has set sail?" Zuko glared. "This is no time for your stupid proverbs, Uncle!" Iroh shook his head. "It's not a proverb, look!"

He pointed at the pirate ship which was now sailing away with the Avatar and his friends. Zuko pointed and laughed. The captain shouted "Shut the fuck up!" at Zuko, turned to look at our boat. His pirates were already on it, sailing away. Zuko stomped his foot. "Hey! That's my boat!" The pirate captain grabbed me by the hair. "Well, don't mind us borrowing her. She'll make great pay to the Tortugan games!" he flung me over his shoulder, and jumped into Zuko's small boat thing. I saw Zuko out of the corner of my eye.

"And that's my girlfriend!" he yelled. He took of after the boat with Uncle, and leaped on it. I sat stunned for a minute…girlfriend? Really? Sweet. I snapped to the moment, and kicked one of the pirates in the face. I jumped up, and swung my tied fists at another, hitting him in the jaw. I jumped onto the railing of the boat, and ran along it. Zuko was fighting with the captain. I knocked out a few more pirates and came close enough to the pirate captain that I kicked him twice in the face, and swung my fists at his face, landing them square on the face. He fell over in a heap. There was a lurch and I sprawled on the floor, as everyone else. Uncle pointed at something. Waterfall. Looks like the Avatar had gotten away, but I was still bound and couldn't do much. Suddenly Zuko was standing above me, he picked me up and dove over the edge of the boat, landing on the ground at Uncle's feet as the boat fell over the waterfall. I just laid there for a few minutes, bound and all, just panting and catching my breathe. Zuko was lying on the ground too, his arm still draped over me. I grinned through the gag on my face. Ooh, the feelings were definitely kicking in now.

That moment ended too soon. Zuko helped me up, and untied my hands. I untied the gag on my face and Uncle Iroh chuckled.

"Good news. The lotus flower tile was in my sleeve the whole time! We didn't have to come here at all!"

I kicked a tree in frustration and Zuko grabbed the tile and threw it off the waterfall.

It was a long trudge back to the ship, but we made it. I collapsed on deck, and almost fell asleep if Zuko hadn't prodded me in the ribs with his toes. I stuck my tongue out at him and walked to my bunker, where I changed out of my armor into loose flowing clothes. I tied my long hair back into a ponytail and washed my face. I heard the door to Zuko's room slam and I sighed. I needed to talk to Uncle Iroh. I caught him by the prow. Thankfully no one else was on deck. He turned when he heard me.

"Ah, Salo. Chilly night isn't it?" he rubbed his arms. I rocked back and forth on my heels, which I found out I do a lot.

"I need to talk to you." Iroh raised his eyebrow at me, but relaxed and waited. I took a breathe. "I was told I was the Avatar." Both his eyebrows shot up like rockets and he rubbed his forehead.

"Someone told you, that you were the Avatar?"

I nodded.

"Four weird looking men with long beards."

"When was this?"

"Two or three days after Zuko got his…"

I didn't finish. Uncle Iroh nodded. "Tomorrow we'll take a walk and talk then. I'm going to bed. Good night Salo." I smiled and nodded. He turned and went into his bunk. I turned back to the railing. I leaned against it, gazing into the water. My red robes flapped about me in the night winds.

"Salo." I whirled around. It was Zuko. I smiled somewhat.

"Um, hi." He came over and stood next to me. I didn't take my eyes off him.

Stupid feelings...

After a few silent moments he turned to me.

"Earlier today, when the pirate grabbed you…" he paused, rubbing the back of his head, looking flustered. "I didn't mean what I said. I mean about you being my girlfriend." He gave me an awkward look. I nodded and turned back to the water. I could feel a lump rising in my throat.

"I didn't think you did." We didn't speak for a few minutes, and a few tears dropped from my eyes to my sleeve. I willed them to go away.

"Salo, I hope you know that doesn't mean anything. Were still friends. I just mean…"

"I know what you meant." I cut him off. I looked him in the eyes for a few seconds, then brushed passed him and into my room and slammed the door.

Wow.

Of course he didn't mean that. He's had fire nation girls throwing themselves at his feet, literally. Most of them most _ definitely _prettier than me.

I smacked my forehead, the tears no longer coming.

I am such an idiot.


End file.
